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Australian Rare Earths Limited (ASX:AR3)

ALERT: Price-sensitive ASX Announcement for AR3
Current share price for AR3 : $0.092 -0.023 (-20%)+
Announcement
Release
10 Sep 2026 9:13AM
Price at Release
$0.115
Full Release
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Summary
Australian Rare Earths Limited announced that its Koppamurra Pilot Plant at ANSTO in Sydney has advanced from heap leaching into downstream Mixed Rare Earth Hydroxide production, marking a key de-risking milestone for the Koppamurra Rare Earths Project. After commissioning the agglomeration and heap leach circuits in August 2026, the first of four heap leach column cycles using about 8 tonnes of ore produced around 5,000 litres of Pregnant Leach Solution at target leaching recovery rates, and this solution was successfully processed through the MREOH precipitation circuit with full rare earth recovery in line with expectations. AR3 said the continuous three-stage precipitation, thickening, filtration and washing campaign will run through to December 2026 to optimise operating conditions and reagent consumption, assess solid-liquid separation and water balance performance, and generate engineering and operating data for the Definitive Feasibility Study and commercial equipment design. The MREOH product will also be further refined into pilot Mixed Rare Earth Oxide samples for customer qualification and engagement with prospective offtake partners, while further campaigns are planned to process about 28 kL of Pregnant Leach Solution during the remainder of 2026.
Key Points
  • AR3’s Koppamurra Pilot Plant has progressed from heap leaching to Mixed Rare Earth Hydroxide production at ANSTO in Sydney.
  • The first heap leach column cycle used approximately 8 tonnes of ore and produced about 5,000 litres of Pregnant Leach Solution at target recovery rates.
  • The Pregnant Leach Solution was successfully processed through the MREOH precipitation circuit with full recovery of rare earths in line with expectations.
  • The MREOH circuit uses a continuous three-stage precipitation reactor followed by thickening, filtration and washing.
  • The pilot program is intended to validate continuous MREOH production and optimise operating conditions and reagent consumption.
  • The campaign will generate engineering data including reagent consumption, residence times, solid-liquid separation performance, water balance data, and product quality and impurity deportment.
  • The program supports Definitive Feasibility Study design and further de-risks the commercial processing flowsheet for Koppamurra.
  • MREOH produced from the pilot plant will be further refined into Mixed Rare Earth Oxide samples for customer qualification and prospective offtake discussions.
  • Further MREOH campaigns are planned through the rest of 2026, targeting approximately 28 kL of Pregnant Leach Solution from pilot heap leach columns.
  • AR3 described the move to producing a concentrated intermediate rare earth product as a significant milestone for the Koppamurra Rare Earths Project.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This information is autogenerated and has not been reviewed for accuracy or completeness. You should refer to the full announcement here for further information.